Imaginary Friends

When I was pregnant with Jacob I wanted to name him Benjamin. I absolutely LOVE the name Benjamin. Andi, however, declared that Benjamin was the name she wanted for her son......someday. Since she seemed quite adamant on this point, we decided on Jacob instead. As you may recall, if Sophie had been a boy, his name would have been Benjamin Carter. A beautiful name indeed.

Yesterday, at the ultraound office she tells me that now she isn't so sure they will use Benjamin as a future name because Big Guy's best friend is named Ben. She tells me this right as they call her back into the examining room. I had to maintain some sense of calm as she is a bit hormonal nowadays, so I told her that was fine. Somewhat under my breath, I added that they could name the baby whatever they wanted - but I would call him Benjamin. She looked back over her shoulder to see if I was kidding. I assured her I am not. So in the future you may read my ramblings about my grandson ___________ aka Benjamin.

All of that has absolutely nothing to do with the title of this post. It's just the background to help you understand the amazement I had when Jacob started talking and playing with his imaginary friend. He was almost 3 when he "introduced" me for the first time to "Ben." Jacob didn't know that I wanted him to be named Benjamin. So I was rather freaked out. I thought Ben would hang around for a few days and be gone. But he is still here. I've almost sat on him a few times over the years. He has gone with us just about everywhere - don't worry - he always buckles up. Ben is a safety nut.

On the way home the other day I was playing Hangman with Jacob. Then he wanted to play the dot game. I told him that I couldn't play that since everyone would probably appreciate me keeping my eyes on the road. So he said he would play with Ben.

Jacob won - but not by much. Ben seems to be a fierce competitor. I'm not sure how long Ben will live here. He's the first imaginary friend any of the kids have ever had. Andi asked me the other day if I thought Jacob realized Ben was not real. I don't know about that - anybody that can keep a kid happy in the car is real enough for me.